Paper or cardboard carton or container



June 15, 1937. v PALMER ET 2,084,106

PAPER OR CARDBOARD CARTQN OR CONTAINER Filed Feb. 19, 1935 Patented June l5, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PAPER. OR CARDBOARD CARTON OB CONTAINER Henry William Samuel Palmer, Bournemouth, and James Harrington, London, England 2 Claims.

This invention relates to paper or cardboard containers of the kind formed from a blank, the body portion being formed by folding the blank along lines and joining the meeting edges by a sealing strip, and the upper or filling end being formed by closing flaps (each of the, same shape and area as the cross section of the container) extending from each of the container walls and folded down and caused to adhere to one another, all of said fiaps except the final closing fiap having registering holes constituting a filling aperture which is permanently closed by the final 'closing fiap after the filling operation has been effected. Preferably the other or bottom end of the container is also closed by superimposed fiaps, each of the same shape and area as the cross section of the container, forming part of the same blank.

We have found by experience that certain refinements in the construction of such containers are desirable in manufacture on: a commercial scale. In the first place we have found that some difiiculty is experienced in ensuring that the final closing fiap at the filling end of the container (which is not folded down until after the container has been filled) is properly secured to the flaps beneath it by the wax with which the whole container is treated. To overcome this difficulty we make the final closing fiap slightly smaller than the other fiaps, so that when it is folded down and the wax is melted (for example, by the application of a hot iron) a ridge of wax will be formed around the edge of the final closing fiap which will thus be held securely in position. In order to increase the adhesion the free edges of the final closing fiap may be serrated and/or small perforations may be formed in the fiap near its edges.

A further difiiculty arises if the holes in the closing flaps at the upper or filling end of the container fail to register exactly with one another and thus produce a filling aperture which is not exactly of the shape required to accommodate the filling nozzle. According to a further feature of our invention, we overcome this difi'iculty by cutting one of the holes of smaller size than the others; this smaller hole is always left unobstructed, ensuring that the filling'aperture will be of the shape and dimensions required.

A third difiiculty is that there is a danger of milk or other liquid leaking out at the bottom corners of the container. Any small apertures which are left at these points when the blank is folded up are normally closed by the wax which 55 is applied to the container, but if the container is roughly handled there is a possibility that the wax will crack and allow the escape of small quantities of liquid. According to a further feature of the invention we avoid this danger by filling the reentrant angle formed in the blank between each pair of adjacent bottom fiaps by a foldable gusset. This gusset preferably consists of a sheet of relatively thin and flexible paper secured by adhesive to the blank, but it may be integral with the blank.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 shows a blank 7 adapted to be folded to, form a container in accordance with one form of the invention; Figure 2 is a plan view of that container before the final closing fiap is applied; Figure 3 is a similarview after the final closing fiap has been applied; Figures 4 and 5 show the lower portions of modified forms of blank.

The blank shown in Figure 1 of the drawing comprises a body portion I adapted to be folded along parallel scored lines 2 and secured by a sealing strip 3 to form a body of triangular cross section. Triangular flaps 4, 5, and 6 secured to the upper ends of the three panels into which the body portion is divided are adapted to be folded down one upon the other and to be se-.

cured together by the wax with which the whole container is coated, so as to close the upper end of the container. The fiaps 4 and 5 are formed with holes 4a and 5a which come into register when the fiaps are folded down and thus form an aperture through which the container can be filled. The third or final closing fiap 5-is adapted to seal this aperture after the container has been filled. Flaps 8, 8 and I0 secured to the lower end of the body portion are adapted to be folded down and secured to one another by the wax applied to the container, so as to close the bottom end of the container.

In order to ensure that the final closing flap 6 is effectively secured to the other fiaps, this final closing fiap is made somewhat smaller than the other fiaps, so that a ridge of Wax will form around the edge of the final closing fiap and hold it securely in position. In order to increase this effect the free edges of the final closing fiap 6 are formed with serrations II and the fiap is formed near its edges with small perforations I2 which become filled with wax when the fiap is sealed down. 'In the container illustrated, the three fiaps at the filling end are of progressively decreasing size, the second fiap 5 to be folded down being slightly smaller than the first flap In order to ensure against leakage from the bottom corners of the container a strip l3 of relatively thin but tough paper is secured by adhesive to the inner;face of the blank. This strip l3 runs parallel to the bottom edge of the body portion I of the blank and covers the reentrant angles between the bottom closing flaps 8, 9 and in, forming foldable gussets.

When the body is folded up and secured by the sealing strip or flap 3 the two ends of the band I3 are also secured together by adhesive, so that the band forms a continuous ring which projects beyond, and continues the line of, the body portion of the container. Owing to its flexibility the hand does not hinder the subsequent folding down and securing of the flaps 8, 9 and Ill. The band positively closes any aperture left at the bottom corners of the container when the blank is folded up and also serves to strengthen ,the parts of the container to which it is secured. The band I3 may be secured to the outer instead of the inner face of the blank.

As shown in figure 4, each of the three guss'ets may be formed by a separate strip or patch of paper l4 secured to the inner or outer face of the blank so as to cover the reentrant angles between the flaps 8, 9 and II].

In the modification shown in Figure 5 the gussets ii are integral with the remainder of the blank: the material lying in the reentrant angles between adjacent'fiaps 8, 9 and III is left standing and the flaps are simply scored along their edges; the gussets are also scored along their central lines which form continuations of the lines 2 along which the body I is folded. The fiaps 8, 9 and It may then be folded down without difliculty. With this arrangement, however, considerably more cardboard is required to form the blank, making it correspondingly more expensive,

and it is preferable to use the construction shown any of those above described may also be applied 1 to the angles at the top end of the'container,

but this will not ordinarily be found necessary.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A container formed of fibrous sheet material having an outer coating of 'wax and comprising a plurality of hingedly connected sides folded to form a liquid proof body, means connecting the adjacent free edges of two ofsaid sides, flaps each hingedly connected with the top of a side of said body, said flaps being less in number than said sides and conforming in contour with, and

closing the open top of, said-body, said flaps respectively having an opening therethrough, said openings being substantially in register with each other, and said flaps being secured to the top of said body and to each other by the wax of said coating, a closure flap hingedly connected to another side of said body, said closure fiap being of the same contour as, of relatively smaller dimensions than, and secured to the outermost of said other flaps by the wait of said coating, said closure flap having serrated free edges, whereby the wax of the coating of said outermost flap and of said closure flap may combine to form a more effective bonding of said closure flap, and means closing the bottom of said body.

2. A container formed of fibrous sheet material having an outer coating of wax and comprising three hingedly connected sides folded to form a triangular, liquid proof body, means connecting the adjacent free edges of two of said sides, two flaps each hingedly connected with the top of a side of said body, said flaps conforming in contour with, and closing the open top of, said body, said flaps respectively having an opening therethrough, said openings being substantially in register .with each other, and said flaps being secured to the top of said body and to each other by the wax of said coating, a closure flap hingedly connected to the remaining side of said body,

said closure flap being of the same contour as,

of relatively smaller dimensions than, and secured to the outermost of said other flaps by the wax of said coating, said closure flap having serrated free edges and perforations adjacent said edges, whereby the wax of the coating of said outermost flap and of said closure flap may combine to form a more effective bonding of said closure flap, and means closing the bottom of said body.

HENRY WILLIAM SAMUEL PALMER. JAMES HARRINGTON. 

